Spca To Tattoo Id Numbers On Pets

August 02, 1989|By MATHEW PAUST Staff Writer

Sunday will be pet tattoo day at the Peninsula Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Don't laugh.

The SPCA is not offering anchor, heart or "MOM" tattoos, but rather a simple identification such as the pet owner's Social Security number, which can save the animal from being sold to an experimental laboratory.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Thursday, August 3, 1989. A photo caption incorrectly said Becky Madden has been tattooing pets for 15 years. Madden is president of Virginia against Cruelty to Animals and as such delivers pets for tattooing. Nancy Mantlo of Richmond has been applying pet tattos for 15 years.

The event is being promoted by Virginians Against Cruelty to Animals, which lobbied unsuccessfully this year for a state law to ban the use of pets in research.

Gov. Gerald L. Baliles did sign into law a bill adopted by the 1989 General Assembly that prohibits an animal pound or shelter from selling pets to a research facility if the animals are identified by a tag, license or tattoo.

"If the pet loses its collar, then the tag is gone. With a tattoo, the identification is on there permanently," said Becky Madden, president of Virginians Against Cruelty to Animals.

Nancy Mantlo of Richmond will be applying the tattoos. She and her husband, Thomas, have been tattooing pets for 15 years.

"Most people in Virginia use their Social Security number because it's the same number on their driver's license. We put a `VA' next to it so people know it's a Virginia number. The police can run a check on the number and identify the owners," Nancy Mantlo explained.

She said people can use military or kennel club identification numbers as well, with each number being identified by appropriate letters, for example "USN" for Navy or "AKC" for American Kennel Club.

"Whatever you want on the animal I'll try to put on it. But we advise them to use something that's not likely to change, like a telephone number or address," she said.

Mantlo said most of the pets she tattoos are dogs or cats, which are marked on an inside thigh. They've had requests to do rabbits, but prefer not to since the mark must be made in the ear and the tattooing machine is loud.

The tattooing usually takes about three minutes, she said.

Hours for the tattooing at the SPCA, 523 J. Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News, will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Appointments are advised. Costs are $8 for the first animal and $6.50 for each additional animal. People arriving without appointments will be charged $10 per animal.

Anita Fletcher, vice president of the Virginians Against Cruelty to Animals, said a portion of the proceeds will be divided between her group and the SPCA.

Appointments can be made by calling the Newport News headquarters of Virginians Against Cruelty to Animals, 872-8222.